Recipe: Avocado-Lime Sorbet With Meringue Chips

Avocado, a staple of salads and sushi, has a delicacy of flavor and creaminess that lends itself perfectly to sorbet. In my kitchen, as long as the end result is delicious, anything goes. That's how we keep things fresh and modern.

AVOCADO-LIME SORBET WITH MERINGUE CHIPS

1 ½ cups water

1 ¾ cups sugar

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1 T light corn syrup

½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice, plus 1 whole lime, for zesting

3 ripe avocados

3 egg whites

DIRECTIONS

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, ¾ cup sugar, corn syrup, and lime juice and bring to a boil; cook for about 2 minutes. Pour into a bowl set over a larger bowl of ice water to cool. When the mixture is cool, peel, core, and slice the avocados, and place them directly into the mixture.

Transfer the avocados and syrup to a blender and puree until smooth. Add the mixture to the frozen bowl of an ice cream machine and prepare according to the manufacturer's instructions. When it has the consistency of soft sorbet, remove from the bowl and freeze to finish setting.

Preheat the oven to 215°F. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites for 2 minutes, then slowly add the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Whisk on high for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the meringue forms stiff, glossy peaks. On a flat cookie sheet lined with a nonstick baking mat, spread the meringue as thinly as possible using a metal spatula.

Zest half of the lime over the meringue. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until dry and crispy. Once it has cooled, break up the meringue into small, 3-inch chips.

To serve, scoop the avocado sorbet into bowls and decorate each of them with a few pieces of the lime meringue. Zest the other half of the whole lime over the finished dessert.

WHAT TO DRINK

Raj Vaidya, head sommelier at New York's Daniel restaurant, recommends Ulrich Stein's Riesling Kabinett Feinherb 2013, from the Himmelreich vineyard in Germany's Mosel region ($27). "It's sweet," he says, "but it won't overpower the dessert, and it has complementary citrus aromas and flavors."

This article originally appeared in the September 2015 issue of ELLE Decor.